Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal invited Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to participate in Punjab’s development during the inaugural day of the NRI sammelan at the Virasat-e-Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib on Friday. The duo stated that there would be no stumbling blocks to investment and pointed out that a single-window system has been created for clearances to projects among other incentives.

They also held a presentation of the state development for the NRIs. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal told the gathering that the state government had organised a Progressive Punjab Investment summit in which big business houses from across the country and the globe had promised to invest billions of dollars. He admitted that there was a general perception that investors face lot of hurdles in Punjab but claimed that all hindrances have been sorted out. Sukhbir flayed the Congress for stating that Punjab is under a huge debt. He said that during SAD-BJP tenure, the debt had actually reduced.

Chief Minister Parkash Badal, on the other hand, said the Punjab government had done a lot for NRIs and that it was now their turn to do something for the state. He took the Centre to task and said that it was not behaving as a truely federal government as, he added, many subjects that fall under the state list are being withdrawn. He said that Punjab is an agricultural state but prices of the agri produce were being decided by the Centre.

Badal appealed to the NRIs to invest in industry, agriculture and education. He said that instead of a ‘get- together’, the NRI sammelan should be an event where big investment and co-operation can take place.

Don’t entertain hardliners: CM

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal urged the NRIs at the sammelan to refrain from entertaining Sikh hardliners in their respective countries. He said Punjab had suffered during the terrorism years and hence hardliners should not be entertained at any cost. We need Punjabi power and character of hard work to be invested in the right direction, he added.